Sunday, May 02, 2010

POLANSKI: I CAN REMAIN SILENT NO LONGER!

Roman Polanski issued this statement through his friend and author Bernard-Henri Lévy, director of the French magazine La Règle du Jeu --

Throughout my seven months since September 26, 2009, the date of my arrest at Zurich Airport, where I had landed with a view to receiving a lifetime award for my work from the representative of the Swiss Minister of Culture, I have refrained from making any public statements and have requested my lawyers to confine their comments to a bare minimum.

I wanted the legal authorities of Switzerland and the United States, as well as my lawyers, to do their work without any polemics on my part. I have decided to break my silence in order to address myself directly to you without any intermediaries and in my own words.

I have had my share of dramas and joys, as we all have, and I am not going to try to ask you to pity my lot in life. I ask only to be treated fairly like anyone else.

It is true: 33 years ago I pleaded guilty, and I served time at the prison for common law crimes at Chino, not in a VIP prison. That period was to have covered the totality of my sentence. By the time I left prison, the judge had changed his mind and claimed that the time served at Chino did not fulfil te entire sentence, and it is this reversal that justified my leaving the United States.

This affair was roused from its slumbers of over three decades by a documentary film-maker who gathered evidence from persons involved at the time. I took no part in that project, either directly or indirectly.

The resulting documentary not only highlighted the fact that I left the United States because I had been treated unjustly; it also drew the ire of the Los Angeles authorities, who felt that they had been attacked and decided to request my extradition from Switzerland, a country I have been visiting regularly for over 30 years without let or hindrance.

I can now remain silent no longer!

I can remain silent no longer because the American authorities have just decided, in defiance of all the arguments and depositions submitted by third parties, not to agree to sentence me in absentia even though the same Court of Appeal recommended the contrary.

I can remain silent no longer because the California court has dismissed the victim's numerous requests that proceedings against me be dropped, once and for all, to spare her from further harassment every time this affair is raised once more.

I can remain silent no longer because there has just been a new development of immense significance.

On February 26 last, Roger Gunson, the deputy district attorney in charge of the case in 1977, now retired, testified under oath before Judge Mary Lou Villar in the presence of David Walgren, the present deputy district attorney in charge of the case, who was at liberty to contradict and question him, that on September 16, 1977, Judge Rittenband stated to all the parties concerned that my term of imprisonment in Chino constituted the totality of the sentence I would have to serve.

I can remain silent no longer because the request for my extradition addressed to the Swiss authorities is founded on a lie. In the same statement, retired deputy district attorney Roger Gunson added that it was false to claim, as the present district attorney's office does in their request for my extradition, that the time I spent in Chino was for the purpose of a diagnostic study.

The said request asserts that I fled in order to escape sentencing by the U.S. judicial authorities, but under the plea-bargaining process I had acknowledged the facts and returned to the United States in order to serve my sentence. All that remained was for the court to confirm this agreement, but the judge decided to repudiate it in order to gain himself some publicity at my expense.

I can remain silent no longer because for over 30 years my lawyers have never ceased to insist that I was betrayed by the judge, that the judge perjured himself, and that I served my sentence.

Today it is the deputy district attorney who handled the case in the 1970s, a man of irreproachable reputation, who has confirmed all my statements under oath, and this has shed a whole new light on the matter.

I can remain silent no longer because the same causes are now producing the same effects. The new District Attorney, who is handling this case and has requested my extradition, is himself campaigning for election and needs media publicity!

I can no longer remain silent because the United States continues to demand my extradition more to serve me on a platter to the media of the world than to pronounce a judgment concerning which an agreement was reached 33 years ago.

I can remain silent no longer because I have been placed under house arrest in Gstaad and bailed in very large sum of money which I have managed to raise only by mortgaging the apartment that has been my home for over 30 years, and because I am far from my family and unable to work.

Such are the facts I wished to put before you in the hope that Switzerland will recognize that there are no grounds for extradition, and that I shall be able to find peace, be reunited with my family, and live in freedom in my native land.

I was actually shocked by this release. I'm wondering if Polanski's lawyers were too. It feels like a hasty rant, drenched in slop sweat and desperation. Clearly, he is a man who is seeing his world as he knows it coming to an end. The famous director appears truly indignant, almost stunned by the reality that he may actually do time for the crime he committed over thirty years ago.

I'm trying to resist the urge to dismiss Polanski as an egomaniacal pedophile, but this statement does nothing to further him as a man who has paid his debt.

Like most, I only know the somewhat obscured facts released to the general public -- Thirty-three years ago he drugged and raped (yes Whoopie, raped) a thirteen year old girl. She ratted, he got caught. His lawyers made a deal -- if he pled guilty, he walks after time served. In his case, that meant the forty-two days he did in Chino. That's a pretty sweet deal considering the maximum sentence for rape is twenty plus years. But this is where it gets fuzzy. Apparently the judge never signed off on the deal. Polanski claims that he did and at the last minute the judge reneged. I guess there was also discussion of additional sentencing. Feeling duped and I'm sure, terrified, Polanski fled. He's been a fugitive ever since. Last September, the Los Angeles District Attorney's office, working with the Swiss Police, had Roman Polanski arrested at the Zurich Airport.

Here's why I believe Polanski's statement will fail him. His emotional missive isn't about the crime, it's only about the punishment. He never mentions what he did -- other than to suggest that the victim has suffered enough. He doesn't admit guilt. He never veers toward contrition. He shows no remorse. He simply stays on point. The point being that he was promised one thing, then given another. The emotion, the outrage, the passion, the exclamations have nothing to do with his part in the affair, it's all about what was done to him. It's a condemnation of our corruptible justice system. In his mind, he is clearly the victim. And he wants you to feel his pain. He wants you to understand why he deserves freedom.

I'm all about sticking it to the man. And yes, the Los Angeles justice system has had/is still mired in scandal. Mr. Polanski may be absolutely correct. Perhaps he was wronged. Perhaps that judge thirty years ago did pull a media-whoring bait and switch. Perhaps the recent documentary did ignite the current DA's need for headlines. Perhaps we should put all this behind us and just move on.

Perhaps.

The problem is the nature of the crime. If Polanski got caught with some blow or a few hookers or it was some domestic issue, chances are people would be in his corner. But he doped and sodomized a minor. His act personified the perceived debauchery of Hollywood power and money. People can't see past that. They can't see past the fact that he only served five and half weeks for this insidious crime. They can't see past the fact that he ran away and never faced his accuser. They can't see past his present-day lack or remorse and arrogance.

Maybe Polanski's press release will play internationally. God knows everyone's looking for a reason to hate us. But here, in the states, fuck, man -- it's just gonna motivate folks to light the lanterns and dust off the pitch forks. People want this guy to fucking suffer.

I am a liberal. I am an artist. I greatly admire and appreciate the vast talent of Mr. Polanski. I am also a stepfather of a fifteen year old girl and the father of a three year old girl. At the end of the day, I don't give a fuck about talent or art or career -- I care about family. My family. Polanski's actions represent a violation of the very thing people care about most. His crime is every parents nightmare. If he's looking for a sympathetic ear he ain't gonna find one here.

There are some serious flaws in the US justice system and one of the biggest is that it favors those with wealth and power. The more I learn about Polanski's situation, the more of a cluster-fuck the whole thing is... He accepted a plea rather than face sentencing. It was a very cushy plea that would never have been offered to someone of lesser stature.

Look facts are facts. He knows what he did, but the victim is begging to be left alone, so be it, she should be, no matter who said what, it is her life that she is trying to save not his.. just let it go, get passed it, thats what she is trying to do.Let this poor girl do just that! If peeps are so offended and upset by what he did, punish him, dont purchase or view any thing he had any part of, keep him indigent.

He knows he is wrong and the deal was probably never really a true deal. That's why he fled and lived a wonderous life abroad. If he was right he would have stayed. No one runs away when they are right. He's chicken shit. Its always easy to blame the system, but the fact is... he raped a 13 year old girl and fled the country. He proves what scum he still is...trying to make us feel sorry for his ass. He needs to do his time, after all he's had 30 years vacation...he should be ready.

For the reasons you list, as it pertains to crime and punishment, I am a conservative. I am so sick of people, specifically the rich and famous, thinking that they should not have to pay for their crimes and somehow it is not their fault (bad childhood, drugs, whatever other bullshit they can think of to pass the blame to someone else). Why we probably disagree greatly on many issues, I agree 100% with you on this one.

Kurt, I've admired every bit of your work I've ever seen. Now I know more about you as a human, and I admire you all the more. You hit the point exactly - Polanski shows no responsibility for his crime, and in his casual request that the "victim" be spared further grief he ONLY means the grief he blames on others. If only those nasty reporters and legal folks would stop pestering the poor woman, there would be no harm and no foul. You see more; you see the groggy little girl who was assaulted. We should never think that's excusable. You're more of a man than Polanski could be in a hundred incarnations. IMO you're also more talented. :-)

If it was one of my daughters he raped, you would have never heard from him again.....he would have been buried in a very deep hole in an area where no one would have heard his final screams, so whatever he gets will be too light in my opinion. Personally I am sick and tired of celebrities using their wealth and power to avoid the law....OJ is guilty of murder and so is Robert Blake.....money buys anything and that isn't right....thanks Mr Sutter.....love the blog, and SOA!!!!!

Hey, I think you got this one totally wrong, the mother brought this girl to him and encouraged their escapade... she doesnt even want to pursue this any longer and hasnt for better than 20 yrs, so let go already. Back in that day, shit happened with directors dont deny it. Maybe your too young to recall, the casting couch. This girl did not get a fair shake the first time, but he does not need to come back here and serve a sentence of who knows and who can actually say (like who's in charge here really?), its just bullshit publicity, let it go, its over....

I truely hope you guys over in the states get this sicker fecker back over there to TAKE HIS PUNISHMENT LIKE A MAN... Sadly I fear that won't happen...Money talks and the rich can walk... springs to mind...Sickens me.. I agree with Kurt... Fuck what talents and skills the guy has... What he did was unforgivable, we as a society in general need to recognise these crimes as exactly that... I don't 100% agree with the death penalty... But with paedophiles, it's needed...

First off thanks for posting that. And I couldn't agree with you more, as boring as it may be.One thing that really upset me is that he is in fact speaking about what the victim wants. Regardless of what she might have said via her lawyers and press. He has no right to include that in this letter. It's pathetic and disgusting. And for me personally it reads no remorse on his part! As if they were on the same side sorta or that she in facts is supporting him in his cause to get this case thrown out!

I totaly agree. I live in Switzerland and I can tell you most people, the population not the stars, agree with Polanski been arrested. Never mind the number of years it has been since the crime has been comitted. It's been done and time to finish paying the remaining debt is never too late.

When you say "God knows everyone's looking for a reason to hate us." I must tell you that swiss people feel the same too.

If he was really worried about preventing further harassment of his victim, he should quietly serve his sentence. Interest in her is raised because her attacker is sitting in freedom writing about things like this instead of in jail where he belongs.

Or, of course, he could have not drugged and raped her in the first place.

He committed a heinous crime, he ran, he should be dragged back in chains to serve the rest of a more appropriate sentence for his crime. It doesn't matter who he is or how talented he is, the simple truth is this - you commit a crime, you must face justice.

I hope the court of public opinion doesn't have bearing as I don't support mob rule.I hate it when legal rhetoric degrades to attempts at emotional posturing.He should be evaluated to see if he is a threat to society.What Mr. Polanski should receive is a fair hearing/trial and sentenced equally.We all know what a joke that concept is, as the criminal justice system is not blind as witnessed by the demographics of prison, compared to the treatment of celebrities/politicians with money by a ever growing machine that exists for the revenue and not the rule of law.I believe in innocence/guilt by a set of laws administered with blind justice for all people.Rome fell because the laws were so vague and applied with such prejudice that eventually the whole of society ignored them.All we can do is watch this circus and shake our heads.I'm going for a ride..

When I first saw this post I said oh shit, here we go, another liberal rant from a pussified liberal hollywood director and it cut deeper cause I love Sam Crow..... But not enough that I wouldnt revoke my membership to SOA on FaceBook. BOY O' BOY WAS I WRONG!!!! Kudos to you Sutter; You hit the nail on the f&*%^$g head!!! This puke druged, and sodomized a fifteen year old. Wasnt even consensual. If ever that was perpertrated upon my daughter or my sisters I would fly to where he his and put a bullet in his head. Correct, this man does see himself as the victim. He has no remorse. Sorry Roman, come on back so the fellas at Chino can do to you what you did to that little girl. Good Job Mr. Sutter. I still consider myself "patched in". Now I will go back to face book and comment, too bad most of those commenting dont read....

Just a thought from my curiosity- why was this 13 yr old girl out with Mr. Polanski at the time? Not that what he did was right, by any stretch of the imagination, but this certainly sounds like a case where he is not the ONLY one to blame. I have a 14 yr old step-daughter who was taken advantage of by a boy around her age and he is in a lot of trouble due to the technicality of the law- but on the flip side she put herself into that position to allow this to happen. Parents need to take some of the responsibility when clearly they do not know what their children are doing. Yes- he should have known that what he was doing was wrong- but if there were drugs around, then he may not have known right from wrong. Why was this girl allowed in the situation? And quite frankly why is LA spending the money on this, when there are far more important issues at hand?

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!I must admit, I was afraid to read this blog post initially in fear that you might actually come down in his favor. I should have known you wouldn't let me down. Very well said. Once again, THANK YOU!

While I think what Mr. Polanski did was awful, I question why this girl was allowed to be in this situation? This does not make it OK, but as a parent, I have a decent clue as to where my children are. I too have a teen-aged step-daughter whom I worry about all the time- but I know where she is most of the time (now that she lives with us). I understand that teenagers push the limits, and will go places they are not supposed to, but by that time that we let them go we hope that we have taught them right from wrong so they will not place themselves in situations that allow for outcomes like this one.

What's almost as disgusting as Polanski's pedophilia is the way so many Hollywood celebrities have rushed to this creep's aid. How refreshing it is to see a member of that community have the balls to call it as it is. Thanks Kurt.Dave WindsheimerJohnstown, NY

Here's the thing with this sick fucker, he didn't stop being a pedophile when he got caught for raping that first girl. I can guarantee that there were other girls before her and other girls after her. Hell, his current wife was 11 years old when he raped the 13 year old.

I have seen the documentary he refers to in his rant. He cooperated with them and even spoke about his like of young girls. He appeared proud of his attraction to young girls. He does not see his behavior as a problem. He does not see this behavior as a crime. He feels relationships between adults and children ok. He has continued his pedophilic behavior over the years. It is too bad the judge cut him a break with agreeing to any deals. But what he doesn't say in his rant what pissed off the judge...a picture was taken of him with some young girls drinking after his release. He went right back to to his behavior. Even if he doesn't do time for the rape which he should...he owes for the running from court all this time. He should be charged with escape and forced to do some time for it. I realize his victim has spoken on his behalf to spare herself but she also was paid by him a lot of money many years ago and may be speaking on his behalf due to the settlement deal. It could read that if she spoke negatively he would take the money back or sue her. Victims often speak out on the behalf of their abuser. Don't forget the French press made her the bad guy and blamed her for the abuse. She was made out to be a sexy party slut that wanted to be sexually abused by him. She was threatened and teased at school and her picture posted everywhere. As a rape victim she was raped again in the French press. Who wouldn't want such good memories brought back so many years later? Most of all now that she is parent.

my name is Angie, i live in a small town in southern Iowa, so the only aspects of "Hollywood debauchery" that i know are what i hear in the news.i do know that what i hear and read in the press is mostly a biased view depending upon the author. I have to let you know that i wholly agree with your take on this.It is unfortunate, but this type of debauchery exists in all towns, not just Hollywood. Even in small town Iowa. While I do understand the victims desire to not have this dragged up again, there is a need for justice to be served. 42 days is not even near to a fair sentence for taking the innocence of a child. I know most 13 year olds do not want to be considered a child, but the fact remains that they are a child. I feel that it is our duty as a society to protect children. Like your referral to your 15 year old step daughter, EVERYONE knows a 13 year old girl, and if they would only stop and think, how they would feel if this had happened to her. To let a crime like this slip through the cracks, is to enable it to happen to others. The fact that he calls it an "affair" simply makes my skin crawl.He needs to call it what it is, a self serving act, child molestation, rape. The fact that he is an artist, an acclaimed director doesnt change that, or give him rights above every other man. I personally hope that he is brought to justice for this. He violated a child. I was violated as a child of 16, and know too well the lasting effects that has upon a person. It has taken me 23 years to begin to undo the damage that was done to me, the emotional scars. I pray that her "scars" have healed, and that her perpretrator pays for his crime with a fair sentence. I thank you for posting this, and always look forward to reading your blogs. they are thought provoking, and entertaing also. --peace

Well-written commentary on a self-pitying rant. I get his point about the justice system's failings, but wasn't the very idea of a a child rapist serving 5 and a half weeks for that crime a failing? On behalf of my daughter and niece, I say to Mr. Polanski "tough shit".

What you say may be true, but I was not aware of the fact that the victim wants no part in this lynching. That is true, I looked it up. What he did was awful, but Hollywood isn't the only place where it happens and no one pays. It happens all the time. The fact is, this incident should be over with. Are we to victimize the victim again just to satisfy our own thirst for blood. Having endured her pain myself, I can safely say that if that DA goes forth with this, he has abused her again. It's unconscionable that after thirty years he plans to stir all of this up for her again just to make a name for himself. I can personally say that I could care less about Polanski and quite frankly he is no more arrogant and ugly than the people who seek to stir all of this back up for their own gain. As a father, think about this. Something happens to your daughter and no one pays, but she is strong and she goes on to have a normal life somehow after the dust has settled and people have forgotten her name. Would you want it to all be drug back up for her at 46(ish) years of age for your grandchildren to have to hear about; for her community to have to hear about?Why are we giving Roman Polanski so much power? The worst thing we could really do to him is to just forget about him. If no one had paid attention when he made his comment, if no one bothers to care what he says, isn't that the biggest price for him? If he does time; if he is brought back here, it will never end.From the survivor's point of view.Lisa B., Ohio

Personally I am an attorney, and I understand how there can be legal loopholes, and Monday details that fall through the cracks. If this is just a case of a Judge playing with the paper work, then it further represents a violation of procedural due process.

Having said that, the man is a convicted rapist. If his name was anything other then Roman Polanski, this would not be an issue. If I went to a foreign country and drugged and raped a minor, I would not have a celebrity crusade backing my cause. Polanski here comes off as elitist, and arrogant.

I am a huge fan, having followed your time on the Shield to SOA - which has become my favorite TV show ever and I love it so much I've managed to get all my family and friends hooked as well. Once I started reading your blog though I have to say I have more of an appreciation for where you're coming from - as a libertarian I don't always see eye to eye with you but this piece here, with your note about the importance of family, shows that sensible people exist everywhere just as much as the extremists exist everywhere.

I think often those of us who might disagree are made out to be enemies - or we think we're supposed to be enemies - but nothing could be or should be farther from the truth. Keep up the good work and the interesting blogs. Looking forward to season 3.

Amen Brother! Preach ON! I have a 13 year old niece and the thought of someone touching her ignites a primal rage in me! Mr Polanski does not have to live with the after effects of abuse like that young lady does. He needs to suck it up, grow a pair, and face the music!

This monster has no remorse only fear of being treated in the same manor that his victim was. The glorification that Hollywood shows him only empowers him to have the audacity to quote, "speak out". He can no longer remain silent. Ha thats a joke. He is worried about his victim having to relive this. Here's a clue she probably has never stopped reliving the nightmare.

45 Days for raping a child is ridiculous. That 45 days should have been spent in her parents basement tied up like a pinata. The arrogance of that letter is appalling. He feels he has served his time? I don't care who signed off on what piece of paper, he still has some time left to serve. I suppose he is old now and realizes that he is now the weak one. What an terrible thing it would be for a predator to grow feeble and know in his heart what predators are cabable of doing to the weak.

It is my understanding that a plea deal is never done until you stand in court in front of a judge and he reads it and agrees with it. That obviously never happened here, so he had no plea deal and he obviously feared that it would not be accepted by the judge so he fled. Five and a half weeks for a crime of this nature? Most people spend that amount of time just sitting about in jail waiting for something to happen.

Kurt, I agree with you. The guy is freaking out because he knows he is in deep **** and all his clout as an artist does not mean squat. I used to think his wife being butchered messed him up, but that is no excuse to do what he did. Instead of apologizing to the girl he raped, he instead referring to her as "the victim" (kind of cold, Roman) and using her requests to drop the case so she can move on with her life to push his selfish "keep my ass out of prison" agenda. Screw this guy...

I didn't know the details of his "time" and had to look them up and 40 days in a "hospital" is what wiki states.

In a way I guess he should just be happy he is still alive. I don't know what the next guy would do but My Daughter is the only person worth going to prison for and I will.

He bullpoop taking off and then coming back when he gets what he wants is over. I guess he fled the first time before the 40 days because he didn't want 20 years. I am sorry but this and only spending 40 days for something this lady has to relive not because of the media but because of being raped is bullpoop...

Any adult male who has sex with a child , is, in my eyes, a demented fuck, not just a bonified pedophile, No matter if he had to drug her, or pay her, or promise her the moon, sex with a child is SICK. I don't care if she was one of these girls who as they say, develops early ( precocious (sp) puberty) I will never understand how an adult can be sexually attracted to a baby...( Is it because his pecker is so small he could not satisfy an adult woman?) I just don't get it...

Where was this young girl's parents during this encounter? You don't let babies go hang out at movie star's homes, just because...

Everytime I read what you write, my respect for you rises tenfold.Thank You, Mr Sutter.facebook under betz kimble

The facts are he drugged and raped a 13 year old girl. Being rich, talented and successfull does not exempt you from the law. Just ask OJ. Here in the US we may not get it right the first or even second time, but eventually we do. His chickens have come home to roost. Be a man and take your medicine. God only knows how many times he has gotten away with it.

I TOTALLY AGREE, AT THE END OF THE DAY IT IS ALL ABOUT FAMILY, AND EVEN THOUGH IT WAS 33 YEARS AGO, THAT GIRL DESERVES JUSTICE! HE SHOULD OF STAYED QUIET, I THINK HIS ENTIRE STATEMENT ONLY PROVED THAT HE HAS NO REMORSE, NEVER DID, IT IS ALL ABOUT HIM, AND HE HAS A BIG CASE OF "POOR ME"!! ANYONE THAT MOLESTS A CHILD DOES NOT DESERVE TO BREATH THE SAME AIR AS WE DO. PEDOPHYLES ARE MONSTERS AND SHOULD AT THE LEAST, BE LOCKED AWAY--FOREVER! I SAY "AT THE LEAST", CAUSE WE ALL KNOW WHAT REALLY SHOULD HAPPEN TO THEM.MARIA E.

At first glance, i thought that Kurt was going to side with this piece of shit Polanski. Sure was glad to find out that was not the case. Yes, he ran away from prosecution, and yes he should be held culpable. I too am an artist, and that career choice will never allow me to view the world through rose colored glasses when it comes to holding other artists, or for that matter anyone else guilty of such a crime! Fuck em..he's a dick and needs to pay for it!..And one more thing.."Eyes Wide Shut" SUCKED!!..Fuck him again..lol

He raped a child. Period, end of discussion. It doesn't matter how many years have passed. He RAPED a child. And like a coward, he ran. And he, thankfully, stayed away. Why? Because he knew he was in the wrong.

I'm not ashamed to say that if anyone were to hurt a child of mine, the justice system would be the least of their worries.

Firstly, Mr. S, I'm glad to know that while you're liberal (I'm conservberal, a possible contradiction in terms, but it works for me), you are still willing to say when wrong is wrong. I agree.

Now, I'm going to be writing a few unpopular thoughts here. If you feel you don't want to post 'em, Mr. Sutter, that's your right, after all, it's your blog.

Polanski's vocabular vomit reads a lot like a 'poor pitiful me' diatribe with a token cry of mercy to his victim, whom I'm certain wants to forget, just as any victim of sexual assault wants to forget. Most are eventually allowed to do so, but if one is the victim of a celebrity, they're never allowed to forget. There's always some hack - either on the internet or in print - willing to resurrect the event and reopen the wounds.

Where's the mea culpea? Where's that acknowledgement that he was wrong? Didn't see it, just lots of chest beating by Polanski. It's interesting that Polanski is whining about his unfair treatment by the American court, because he is being expected to do time for the crime! Imagine that!

Was the man offered a time served sentence agreement? Probably. Something to consider is that the court system is a political circus. Somebody in the judge's retinue likely had an 'oh shit!' moment and told the judge the sentence was political suicide and the agreement was taken back. We all know what happened then. Hey, there is no law that says a plea agreement has to be accepted!

I'm old enough to remember the Manson family murders, and what happened to his wife in 1968 was a horrible thing. Charles Manson and his 'family' were tried, convicted, and sentenced of the killing of Polanski's wife. Most are still doing time for that killing and the others that accompanied it. I feel terrific empathy for Polanski for being a victim, but that empathy does NOT prevent me from being shocked, appalled, and sickened at what he did later. He did the crime, he was found guilty, and if the judge decided that further punishment was required, that's the way it goes. Imagine the hue and cry if the Manson family got a 45 day sentence for what they did!

What gets me is the way we continue to give celebs like Polanski, Michael Jackson, OJ Simpson, and others our love and support when they have been PROVEN to be guilty of heinous behavior. I say 'we' as a generalization.

Personally, I can't listen to any Jackson song, or watch any film that Simpson has been in, knowing what they did. To do so makes my skin crawl and I just won't support them. That's my choice.

It's fine to have idols, to look up to someone, to be a fan and support their work. The thing to keep in mind is that actors, writers, singers, athletes, etc., are human beings. They are capable of making the wrong choices. When they do, we should hold them just as accountable for those mistakes as we would anyone else.

I'm not dustin' off my pitchfork, although I have considered taking the rusy bottle cap to the root of the Polanski problem (the rusty bottle cap is my preferred method of punishment to ANY sexual predator/rapist, but that's just me). I feel for his loss in 1968, but don't feel that he was gyped. There is no law that says a judge has to accept a plea agreement.

Polanski would've been better off to have kept quiet, instead of beating his chest, rending his garment in anguish, and trying to whip up sympathy where none is deserved.

As for those who beat the 'what was the kid doin' there in the first place?' drum, I won't even START to go there. At least not here. Just hope your kid is never in a situation where some big name takes an interest in him/her.

He should be thankful that he is going to spend his time behind bars now, old and weathered, instead of when he was younger, able bodied, and no doubt enjoying nefarious sexual proclivities in insouciant European countries.

As a 45 year old woman who was raped at 19, I understand the feelings of the victim to want to move on. She has dealt with the situation and she has worked past it. She had to. She didn't have the choice to run off to Europe and begin again like nothing happened. She's the one who stayed, dealt with the nightmares, the bizarre little triggers of memory like a scent, or a shadow, that turned her world upside down. SHE has served her sentence.

Now, Mr. Polanski's biggest problem with all of this is why didn't he sue his lawyers for NOT making sure the plea agreement was signed? Everyone knows, a plea agreement isn't valid until the ink is dry on the paper. Since that agreement was NEVER inked, then there was no agreement. Prosecutors and Defense can agree but if the JUDGE doesn't sign it, then it doesn't exist.

Mr. Polanski, stop running, stop whining, stop throwing a temper tantrums, just STOP. If you hadn't taken off like that, this would've been taken care of 33 years ago and EVERYONE would be past it now. You made a choice, now pay for the consequences.

Thing is, Polanski has a history of "liking" underaged girls..After he fled, didn't he shack up with a miss Nastasaja Kinski - age 15 at the time? I mean I feel for him about losing his wife and unborn child (Sharon Tate), but still, he is just another criminal sex offender in my eyes.

Once again Mr. Sutter you have impressed me with your blog. As an incest survivor I have no sympathy for Mr. Polanski. I am old enough to remember when he drugged and raped that 16 year old girl. I was 16 at the time. He has lived the high life since he fled America 33 years ago. He has showed no remorse what he has done nor does he feel he should be punished for his actions. He does not deserve sympathy from anyone. He deserves to rot in hell for what he did and no matter what he states he is still a rapist and a pepophile. And he can take that to the grave with him!

i think he should judt face the judhe and jury. stop crying! u raped a 13 year old! yeah its messed up its being brought e out again but it is a minimum of 5 years for the rest of the population(more like 1 after the guys in prison figure out what u did) u got off light because u are famous! stop crying and deal with the consequences of ur actions!

Kurt, once again, Well Put! they ought to take Polanski and all the priests that covered up and committed these horrible nightmare assaults on our young children and just throw away the keys and let them rot in their own excrement. ps I can't wait for the next Sons to hurry up and get here!

I have two daughters myself. It's difficult not to want to see him punished forever. Maybe even to let the Sons take him out into the woods to meet their other sick carny buddy. This goes beyond liberal or conservative. Family is family. You don't mess with someone's baby and then cry foul when it's time to pay the piper.

This guy is a pampered sniveling douche-bag. He drugged and raped a child for his own pleasure and believed he had the right to do so.

And he still believes he has the right to continue to victimize this woman who begs to be able to put this all behind her. He's the one who's made it an on-going unresolved issue, not the American justice system. If he'd stayed and discharged his punishment it would have been behind both of them long since. He's the one still victimizing her and dragging her through this - HIM - no one else.

It's natural to want to save her from further distress, but not pursuing Polanski only rewards him for having kept this shadow on her life alive for more than 30 years. His arrogance and cowardice have compounded her burden, rewarding him now for that would be morally reprehensible.

He needs to be put in the cell next to Phil Spector - they can commiserate on their misunderstood brilliance, on their persecution by the justice system, and how the child that was raped and the woman that was murdered, ruined THEIR lives.

This is all a bunch of F%#^$$# posturing -from everyone. I was 13 when I was raped. No one gave a s&%$. I didn't look thirteen. Believe me, that was brought up in court as well as the time I was caught out after curfew. Bottom line was that I walked away feeling it had been my fault and he didn't pay for it. That was thirty years ago. Where was all this outrage then? I guess my attacker wasn't famous enough. If someone told me now that they were going to put him in jail for whatever reason, I'd tell them to shut up about it and go to hell. It would be too little too late. The only reason we are even talking about this goes all the way back to the day the judge cut the original deal. It's the only reason that Romie thought he would get away with it and had any wiggle room to think he was right in leaving. That first deal is the fruit of all this strife. The fact that the judge thought 45 days was enough to pay for what he did. I don't care if he changed his mind later or it was changed for him. Justice is not blind. Do you think that if it had been any other rapist that fled punishment to another country that our justice system would bother tracking them down? Absolutely not. This is all because of who he is. ALL OF IT. The fact that he had access to the girl, the original case, the documentary, and now trying to bring him back. He is a sick %&#* and his statement is a load of horse S$#%. I'm not saying I don't agree with you Kurt. Everything you say is true and on the money. He should have kept his mouth shut. I'm just sick of everyone's posturing about this. People who say they would do this or that if it happened to one of theirs have absolutely know idea what they would really do. I'm sure my father thought the same things. I pray that no one on here ever has to find out whether they are full of shit or not. This bogus witch hunt is pointless. He would have continued to live in fading cult like obscurity if that idiot had not done that documentary and stirred this back up. I doubt anyone even cared until then. All this outrage and indignation is just plan bull#$%&. maybe the documentary did need to be done to show people what went down, but all this other stuff now; everyone is beating their chest about justice and what is justice for the victim and I doubt seriously that any of these folks, maybe a few, know exactly what a victim of this crime feels like or needs.BTW, I'm posting this anonymously, not because I don't have balls. Oh, I do. I just have no desire to drag my indecent back up in public and incite my rapist to come back and defend his victimhood like Mr. Polanski has done.

copied from various sources around the net - this poem goes out to oprah and everyone who defends polanski:

A youthful error? Yes, perhaps.But he's been punished for this lapse--For decades exiled from LAHe knows, as he wakes up each day,He'll miss the movers and the shakers.He'll never get to see the Lakers.For just one old and small mischance,He has to live in Paris, France.He's suffered slurs and other stuff.Has he not suffered quite enough?How can these people get so riled?He only raped a single child.

Why make him into some Darth VaderFor sodomizing one eighth grader?This man is brilliant, that's for sureAuthentically, a film auteur.He gets awards that are his due.He knows important people, too--Important people just like us.And we know how to make a fuss.Celebrities would just be foolsTo play by little people's rules.So Roman's banner we unfurl.He only raped one little girl.

Bro it is amazing to me how anyone can have an above reproach attitude.I have a seen many people walk into a room and hold everyone in that room in contempt.I chuckle when I see people with elitest attitudes and how fast and hard they fall.Polansky seems to be pissed the "authorities" have the audacity to charge him with crime. Old Roman would be a very nervous man had that young lady been my daughter.He would have had to leave the country to get away from me.When comes to my little girl hell is not far enough away for me not to my hands on him.The police would not be able to scrape enough of him to even charge with a crime.There are certain things you just do not do and touching minor girls one of those very things

He surely deserves to be punished, but when you talk about family we have to think about something, he had his wife and unborn child murdered, that whole manson shit messed him up (as Indianacat said).

I could say by personal experince how it feels to have someone dear molested, it happened to my girlfriend when she was five, she never told to her parents or the cops, and the bastard is walking free and is still a friend of the family. If she would let me I would take care of the guy and bring the whole 81 boys to kick the hell ot of him and some nasty stuff that I don't dare to write it down in here.

The big issue here is that this guys are messed up, they have serius psycological problems and should be treated as such. And they shouldn't be compared whit the dude that had sex with a wiling 17 years old girl with a fake ID thah they just met in a club.

My impulsive side whould nut him and make him eat his own balls, but my logical side thinks that pedophiles should be put in mental institutions because if ou send them to jail you might as well give the the injection yourself and if they survive they will come out and they will do it again.

To those saying the victim's wishes to let it rest are missing a key point. She was paid to do so. In other words, the argument is being made that you can do anything to anyone as long as you have enough money to pay off your victim.

There's a reason the laws are set up to allow prosecution without the cooperation of the victim, and this is one of them.

I was looking for updates on Season 3 (can't wait!) and I came across this post. I asked myself.. do I dare read this? What if he sides with Polanski and I hate him forever- how would I be able to separate Sutter the artist(the creative genius) from Sutter-a man who would side with Polanski? But I read on and was happily relieved to know that you feel what most of us "normal folk" do.. that his money, fame and artistry have nothing to do with the crime Polanski committed. The audacity of him to think that he has served his time. The system is already too lenient on these types of crimes and a stand must be made. No, not just with Polanski but with all the pedophiles out there. It enrages me and I am disappointed at other artists who side with him- simply because he is/was their friend or because he is talented. I need to respect the artists I support, so I thank you for making it easy to love and support your work. SOA is the only show on tv worth watching- I thank you for sharing it with us.

Why does no one mention the fact that said girl came out in an article a few years back talking about the fact that her mom and her 20 year old boyfriend at the time encouraged her to go with Mr. Polanski and get to know him better since he could do good things for her career. Why does no one mention that she admits that she did coke with him and drank gave him oral and let him do same to her but when he wanted to have sex she was hesitant then decided she was to high to care, but she told him no about anal sex and THAT'S where the RAPE charge stems from??? Jack Nicholson and Angelica Houston walked in on them in the bedroom and she didn't tell them help me he's raping me no they stopped and all did a couple lines together. It wasn't till he didn't do anything for her acting career that her mom and her cried rape. It's disgusting he was set up, and if you see pictures of her from back then she didn't look 13. She has even said this has gone on long enough, it's totally the D.A. who is doing this it's sickening, go and look for the real pedohiles out there you know the one's who are raping and killing kids and getting released on bail those are the scumbags you need to get!!!!

Rafasgirl, I'm not sure what the laws are over there, but here having consensual sex with a minor is still rape.

Shoving it up her ass cause she's too out of it to confirm if she's on birth-control makes it violent rape.

If the mother encouraged it she should have been prosecuted as well, but to try and blame a child for making decisions she is way too young to make is quite disgusting. This wasn't 2 kids experimenting, this was a grown man raping a young girl.

Allowing someone to buy their way out of whatever sentence they deserve (instead of the 40 odd days he 'suffered') for such act is far more dangerous than releasing criminals who've done their time.

I was repeatedly raped by my older and bigger cousin when I was 11 and too young to fight back. He got off scot-free the way our buddy Roman did except my cousin didn't do ANY time.

I was surprised when Phil Spector got convicted, after Robert Blake was acquitted. I think "name recognition" is the reason Blake and Polanski got off and Spector went down, because not nearly as many people knew who the fuck Spector was, but everyone knows who Polanski and Blake are. ALL pedophiles need to do time (so they can see how it feels to be raped) before they are EXECUTED!